Old Lyme Board of Selectmen
Tuesday, 5 March 2012
The Board of Selectmen held a Regular Meeting at 7:30 PM on Monday, 5 March 2012 in the Meeting Hall of the Old Lyme Memorial Town Hall. First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder, Selectwoman Mary Jo Nosal and Selectman Skip Sibley were present.
1. Approval of Minutes – 21 February 2012
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder read an email from Bob Dunn who gave a presentation at the last Selectmen's meeting. Mr. Dunn requested that this be added to the minutes under 4.b. "The Selectmen were not inclined to vote on this as they had made a decision to abide by the law pertaining to elementary and middle school fields which bans the use of pesticides, rather than the law pertaining to high school and municipal fields which allows the application of government (EPA) approved pesticides, because students from Regional District 18 are using the fields." Selectwoman Nosal moved to add the language to the minutes of the Selectmen's meeting of 5 March 2012. Selectman Sibley seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
Under New Business c. Snow Plowing Committee (3rd paragraph, 3rd sentence) Selectman Sibley requested that this sentence be moved to the end of the paragraph. "If the Board of Selectmen had instituted this by a vote, then there would need to be a vote to change this."
Under New Business d. IT Consultant Selectman Sibley would like this sentence added: "Selectman Sibley asked if this was put out to bid, and it was not due to the inability to find other vendors for this service."
Under New Business e. Village Estate Bids Selectman Sibley would like the 4th sentence to be changed to read "Selectman Sibley was uncomfortable awarding a contract for the work since the bid amount exceeded the bond." He would like the following language to be inserted after the 5th sentence; "Selectman Sibley stated that the letter that went out was not clear in stating that the homeowners should acknowledge responsibility to pay the balance."
Under New Business b. Town Woods Operating Committee Selectwoman Nosal would like the 3rd paragraph to be changed to "Ralph Eno, First Selectman of Lyme, reported that there is new State legislation pending this session which would require integrated pest management for public schools." Selectwoman Nosal would like a final paragraph added to this section "Following their resignation, Selectwoman Nosal asked for clarity that despite their having presented an alternative treatment plan, that they were not interested in seeing it through, at which time they confirmed their resignation."
Under New Business a. CT River Gateway Commission Selectwoman Nosal requested that the following sentence be added "Peter Cable also introduced Suzanne Thompson, ex-officio."
Selectman Sibley moved to accept the minutes of 21 February 2012 as amended, and Selectwoman Nosal seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
2. Public Comment
Timothy Griswold wanted to amplify on the Village Estates Bids, regarding sending a letter to the homeowners stating that they are responsible for the amount beyond the bond. Mr. Griswold is hoping that the Board of Selectmen will not endorse doing work beyond the bond amount hoping that the homeowners will pay the balance. He suggests that the work be done up to the bond amount and not over it. The bond is really an insurance policy of a good faith estimate to accomplish the work and if it is not sufficient then either the developer or the owners are responsible beyond that. He hopes that the letters to the homeowners will indicate that the Town will only do what is possible within the bond and anything over that (that is required by planning) will be the homeowners' responsibility.
Mr. Griswold hopes that the Board of Selectmen will keep the Snow Plowing Policy simple. He feels that the process described where a committee will evaluate applications from different private roads would be very turbulent. Mr. Griswold would like to see no private roads plowed and make other arrangements as the Selectmen see fit.
Scott Boulanger, President of the Federation of Beaches, spoke in favor of plowing private roads and felt that it would not be cumbersome to have a committee going forward to decide if a private road met the standards of a road to be plowed.
David Woolley, Old Lyme Shores, seconded what Mr. Griswold said regarding a committee that would decide if a private road would qualify for Town plowing. As a member of the Board of Finance he questions if a monetary amount could be given to the beaches in replacement of the snow plow service. He understood the change in the agenda placing Public Comment at the beginning of the meeting, but if someone were at the meeting tonight and wanted to comment on a subject discussed at the meeting, this person would have to wait until the next Selectmen's meeting.
3. Communications – NONE
4. Appointments - NONE
5. Old Business
a. Rogers Lake Dam/Fishway – Letter of Endorsement
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder presented the plan for the Dam / Fishway project. It is the consensus of the Roger's Lake Dam Repair Committee to move ahead with the plan. The Town will be doing both projects together in order to minimize costs. In addition, the Town is working with the CT River Watershed Council and the DOE and DEEP to implement the fishway project. The Town will work with the CT Watershed Council for possible grant money to help fund the construction of the fishway ladder. A STEAP Grant in the amount of $229,000 has already been awarded to the Town to be used for repairs on the dam. An estimate from the engineering firm to complete the entire project is $290,000. A letter of endorsement is needed to trigger an application for grant money for the construction of the
fishway. Selectwoman Nosal moved to endorse the installation and construction of the fishway ladder project as part of the Roger's Lake Dam repair project. Selectman Sibley seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
b. Proposed Amendment to Ordinance, WPCA
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder is hoping to schedule a Special Town Meeting on 9 April and would like to present the amendments at that time. The WPCA is controlled by an ordinance and the State Statute gives the Town the ability to create the WPCA and the State Statute also states that in the Town's ordinance the Town is to address the removal of any members. The present Town ordinance does not address this. Town Counsel has provided the verbiage for the amendment. "Any vacancy which may occur among either the regular members or the alternate members by death, resignation or other cause shall be filled by the Board of Selectmen for the unexpired term of such member. Any member may be removed by the Board of Selectmen for cause after a noticed hearing." First Selectwoman
Reemsnyder noted that she found this same verbiage used in other towns' WPCA ordinances. Selectwoman Nosal moved that the amendment as written to the WPCA ordinance be brought to a Town meeting. Selectman Sibley seconded the motion. DISCUSSION: Selectwoman Nosal stated that in the future, as time allows, that they look at other ordinances that perhaps could be missing some verbiage so that it does not appear that they are only paying attention to some commissions. SO VOTED.
c. Proposed Amendment to Ordinance, Parking Tickets
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stated that the Town ordinance does not include any wording to speak to towing or ticketing for illegal parking or parking beyond the time limit as posted. Town Counsel suggested that under 210-5 Removal of Vehicles, that a line be added. Whenever any vehicle is being parked in violation of 210-3 or 210-4 (which speaks to snow plowing) or parked in any parking space on a public street beyond the legal parking time established for such space at a parking meter or by signage posted by order of the Board of Selectmen. This same verbiage will be added to the area that pertains to parking tickets. Selectman Sibley mentioned that the maximum parking ticket fine is stated in the ordinance as $90. He would like the Selectmen to revisit this and be sure that this
amount is in accordance with the current fines, though it was noted that this amount may be limited by state statute. Selectwoman Nosal asked that under Removal of Vehicles, the ordinance indicates that the car will be towed or otherwise removed to a public garage at the risk of the owner. Someone had indicated to her that the Town may not be towing the cars to a public garage. This verbiage will be reviewed also.
d. Proposed Amendment to Ordinance, Private Roads
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder reported that she has asked the Planning Commission to weigh in on this new language. On the last line of the ordinance, the proposed change is to replace the verbiage "safe vehicular access can be provided" with "appropriate vehicular access can be provided."
e. Town Woods Operating Committee Presentation – Discussion
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder reviewed the presentation made by the Town Woods Operating Committee at the last Selectmen's meeting. She stated that before the presentation was given she had not had a chance to speak to Bob Dunn about the presentation and she felt that it would have been easier on the Selectmen to know ahead of time what was going to be presented. She did not feel at the end of the presentation that she had enough information to make a decision and also expected that the Town Woods Operating Committee would bring options for organic treatment to compare to the standard treatment that had been done for years. The committee did supply some of the additional costs but there was not enough research done into organic care. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder has since done some research on
organic care and has also spoken to Ralph Eno. Before a decision can be made, the Selectmen need to have as much information as they can. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder has gotten the name of someone in Connecticut (Todd Harrington) who owns Harrington's Organic Land Care. He has been doing this for over 23 years. His care is based on science. Brochures on his business were shared with the Selectmen. Within the next two weeks First Selectwoman Reemsnyder would like to schedule a presentation by Mr. Harrington in a venue that could handle a large amount of people. The Selectmen need good information and they need to act quickly.
Selectman Sibley feels that this approach is a good one and added that the Selectmen must be prepared to do some pretty drastic measures to save the fields. Selectwoman Nosal agreed with both First Selectwoman Reemsnyder and Selectman Sibley. She read her statement regarding the history of the how we got to where we are today with regard to the Town Woods Park.
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stated that she is working very hard on this along with Ralph Eno, and Glynn McAraw who is the Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Commission. This situation is viewed as very important and they are working very hard on resolving the issue as quickly as possible in collaboration with others.
f. Snow Plow Committee – Discussion of Recommendation
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder reviewed the three options presented at the last Selectmen's meeting. Selectman Sibley moved that the Selectmen adopt option one where the Town plows only Town roads. Selectwoman Nosal seconded the motion. DISCUSSION: First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stated her reasons why she felt this is the right decision to make. She does agree that the Town needs a written policy and that the Town needs to prioritize the roads for plowing and post this on the Town website. Selectwoman Nosal and Selectman Sibley agreed with First Selectwoman Reemsnyder's assessment.
Selectman Sibley moved to amend his motion to include "the Town will develop a written policy regarding prioritizing roads to be plowed, and option one begins in FY 2013." Selectwoman Nosal seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
Selectwoman Nosal stated that she knows that First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stands by what she recommended last year when she began studying the issue, but for the record she thinks that one additional year would not be deleterious to the budget. One additional year would allow the beach membership to assess their options.
The motion on the floor by Selectman Sibley to adopt option one, To Plow only town roads, with above amendment, was brought to a vote. SO VOTED.
6. New Business
a. Resolution Authorizing Veolia's Agreement for Hazardous Waste Collection
Each year, there are scheduled Hazardous Waste Collection days for the Town where residents bring their hazardous waste to the Essex Transfer Station. There is a vendor who removes the waste from the transfer station and this vendor's contract is up. In order to authorize extending the contract, a resolution needs to be authorized. Selectman Sibley moved to adopt the resolution authorizing Veolia's agreement to extend the Household Hazard Waste Management contract for one year. Selectwoman Nosal seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
b. 2012 HHW Schedule of Collection Dates
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stated that the collection dates will be posted on the Town website and flyers will be available. The collection dates in 2012 are: April 21 at the Clinton Public Works Garage, May 19, June 2, June 23, July 14, July 28, August 11, August 25, September 8, September 22, October 13 and October 27 at the Essex Transfer Station.
7. Other Business
Selectwoman Nosal asked First Selectwoman Reemsnyder if she had heard back on the STEAP Grant process for the boat house. She had not heard back and had asked several times so far, but will inquire again.
Selectman Sibley addressed the subject of garbage collection on private roads and the fact that current regulations do not support this. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder reported that this issue is on the Planning Commission's agenda for this week. Selectman Sibley suggested that the regulation should also include recycling, and language should be added regarding the garbage contractor needing to approve if a private road was accessible or not for refuse pickup and if not, other arrangements could be made.
Selectwoman Nosal asked for an update on the outcome of the Senior Center Board's discussion with the Board of Finance. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder reported that the task force did report to the Board of Finance. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder did state to the Board of Finance that the Selectmen supported in spirit, the idea of separating out Social Services from the Senior Center Director position and increasing the Director's hours to 25 weekly. She recommended that the Town could provide a position for Social Services at the Town Hall using the office downstairs for about 8-9 hours weekly. The Board of Finance did discuss making the position of the Senior Center Director a municipal position and took a vote to endorse creating that position at 25 hours per week. As far as
changing the agreement or ordinance, First Selectwoman Reemsnyder feels that the Selectmen still have some work to do on this, and she will need to have a discussion with Ralph Eno.
First Selectwoman Reemsnyder will be bringing the subject of approving the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments to a future Selectmen's meeting for discussion. She stated that she believes that this is the right direction for the Town to go.
Selectman Sibley stated that the Town's Finance Director had done a lot of work on the Financial Policies regarding bids. He wondered if this will be in the Selectmen's bucket or the Board of Finance's bucket. First Selectwoman Reemsnyder stated that this had gone to the Board of Finance for their review and that the Selectmen should be prepared to address this at the end of this fiscal year.
Selectwoman Nosal reported that she had attended the Conservation Commission meeting last week and they have lots of exciting plans. She would like the Conservation Commission to come to the next Selectmen's meeting to present their plans. Selectman Nosal will invite them.
The next Board of Selectmen's meeting will be held on Monday, 19 March at 7:30 PM in the Meeting Hall of the Old Lyme Town Hall.
8. Executive Session – NONE
9. Adjournment
Selectman Sibley moved to adjourn the meeting 9:34 PM. Selectwoman Nosal seconded the motion. SO VOTED.
Respectfully submitted,
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Mary Ellen Garbarino
Recording Secretary
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